US Rethinks Af-Pak Strategy As Strikes Widen

Andrew Exum (also known as Abu Muqawama) offered a good analysis earlier this week in The New Republic of what was right and what was wrong with Obama's counter-terrorism strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Thomas Hegghammer at Jihadica followed up with a couple more useful observations. But events have once more overtaken strategy in the region. On Wednesday a US drone struck in the Orakzai Tribal Area, an area which had not previously been targetted- some fear that this widening of strikes will serve only to push those that the US is targetting into more populated areas deeper inside Pakistan.

Today, meanwhile, is the NATO summit in Strasbourg and Baden-Baden, where it looks likely that America's European allies will resist calls to back any Afghan 'surge'. The UK has denied reports that it will send another 2000 troops to Afghanistan, with a senior official explaining that, "What the UK brings to the table is the civil side, the development side, not the military side". Is the Obama Af-Pak strategy, just days old, already out of date?